notme

Big Brother makes new laws because he only wants what is best for his good, modern people. 

Big Brother makes new laws because he only wants what is best for his good, modern people. 

This was the prompt I used:
I want you to write a short story about how a country adopts measures such as reducing the use of plastic bags for reasons of sustainability and the values that are reinforced thereby lead to perceptions of cultural superiority over those nations that do not practice these methods. The view grows that war is an acceptable price to pay to encourage more widespread adoption of sustainability values and practices amongst those who have not evolved to this elevated reasoning.

I found ShiaChat in 2002 and got brave enough to join in 2010. Since 2005 I have felt that ShiaChat was my own special place to escape to for a bit of social interaction with lots of smart, helpful, and funny people. Now that we are in the covid-19 era, I sometimes feel like the world is on fire, but I am so grateful that ShiaChat is still here.  Love to you all!  

Ah, I'm such an old man now, almost pushing 38.. Really want me to do this?

Big Brother makes new laws because he only wants what is best for his good, modern people. 

I like to give the benefit of the doubt even if I'm skeptical. The harm done by incorrectly assuming that a person is trolling seems far worse to me than the inconvenience of spending time helping someone who is playing us. 
Besides, I have enough faith in our beliefs and practices that I don't worry about criticism, even if disguised as a plea for help. There are always false assumptions, and once those are corrected, a person in need is helped or a troll gives up. 

I like to give the benefit of the doubt even if I'm skeptical. The harm done by incorrectly assuming that a person is trolling seems far worse to me than the inconvenience of spending time helping someone who is playing us. 
Besides, I have enough faith in our beliefs and practices that I don't worry about criticism, even if disguised as a plea for help. There are always false assumptions, and once those are corrected, a person in need is helped or a troll gives up. 

Either the OP’s assertion is correct OR -
One of the explanations could be that posts like these are initiated by good natured ShiaChat Mods & Admins who loose their sleep at night seeing no sizeable traffic coming to ShiaChat. :p
Damsel in distress posts that Hajji2003 mentioned help bring 95% of interested ShiaChat members back to life. 

It is best to take posters at their word - because we do not know the reality/unreality or whether their post is exaggeration or underreporting.  Judging someone’s integrity, honesty and level of religiosity based on a few words online is beyond bizarre.  Sure there are trolls, but the post might be genuine and you need to take Muslims at their word unless you have valid reason to believe they are being dishonest.  Online you never know what you dealing with.  The person might be a jaded troll but they also could be someone who is very much on the edge and is posting in desperation.  How would you like to be wrong?
  People are often in difficulty based on bad choices, or sadly, based on the choices of others.  I think that once someone can actually write out what kind of a mess they are in and post it online, they are fully aware of what those bad choices were.  I am sure they do not need to have a member point out what an evil schmuck they are.  It is not helpful.  The pointer-outer comes across as someone who has self-imposed faux moral and religious superiority getting a quick esteem fix by pointing out the faults of others whom they see as inferior to themselves.  Not helpful to anyone - ironically, including themselves.   People disappear after posting because they were either trolls, are wishing they did not post in the first place (and ask for their post to be removed) are embarrassed or humiliated by one or more responses, or feel they have received validation enough to tackle their issue in suggested ways.   If one post can cause extreme turmoil, the problem is not with the poster but with the lack of cohesion within the community members.  If something like a post pushes us off the rails into mayhem, then we have some serious work to do in terms of addressing ongoing misunderstandings that create battlefields when there is even the slightest opportunity.  

I like to give the benefit of the doubt even if I'm skeptical. The harm done by incorrectly assuming that a person is trolling seems far worse to me than the inconvenience of spending time helping someone who is playing us. 
Besides, I have enough faith in our beliefs and practices that I don't worry about criticism, even if disguised as a plea for help. There are always false assumptions, and once those are corrected, a person in need is helped or a troll gives up. 

This is the heart of the problem.
An effective solution does not require us to make any assumptions at all!
In the most recent example, you'll see from the answers that I gave the poster, I took everything that was said at face value. I gave a constructive answer that would have enabled the OP to address her problem in a practical way. 
On the other hand.
There are plenty of people on this forum who were more than willing to engage with 'the story', the details of which had NOTHING to do with an effective solution and EVERYTHING to do with maligning the religion and its institutions.
@Laayla as a Mod I will caution you not to take for granted the imaan of anyone on this forum and that includes all Mods and Admins. Assess everything you read on its merits.

Fatherhood or motherhood might be someone's purpose, and those are not paid. Definitely raising children has rewards, but they aren't necessarily monetary. 
The same could be said about caring for injured or orphaned animals, cleaning up spoiled natural areas, feeding homeless people, writing or creating art, and a variety of other activities that a person might make their life's work while they take jobs that they may or may not love or be particularly great at so that they can afford to undertake these works that give primarily spiritual rewards.

We may not always know our purpose, but it is there, waiting for us to discover it. Strive to do your best and trust in Allah for your success. 

Fatherhood or motherhood might be someone's purpose, and those are not paid. Definitely raising children has rewards, but they aren't necessarily monetary. 
The same could be said about caring for injured or orphaned animals, cleaning up spoiled natural areas, feeding homeless people, writing or creating art, and a variety of other activities that a person might make their life's work while they take jobs that they may or may not love or be particularly great at so that they can afford to undertake these works that give primarily spiritual rewards.

Let us always look for the good -- for what we look for, we tend to find. 

Instead of a commodity (gift), show someone that you care for them and love them by doing something for them: giving words of affirmation, physical touch (hugs and handshakes), spending time with them, making memories with them (acts of service), etc. 
Episode 3

ALHAMDULILLAH for all His uncountable blessings and favours on us. 
On a moral ground, it is advisable to look at those below us in terms of provisions and blessings so as to create a sense of gratitude in us.

At times we may be enduring a difficult test but we should never lose hope and know that (s.w.t) will do what is best. Those tests although may be tough, can be used to accumulate more blessings by remaining positive. 

People who think negative thoughts all the time will notice all the negative things that happen to them. It's all in your perspective. Nobody's life is perfect. I'm sure that many others are doing much worse than we are. We have a roof over our head and Internet connection. Begin to notice what you have instead of what you don't have. Appreciate everything. Always. 

Well, in my opinion the reason you're not finding your purpose is because of a crippling fear of failure for whatever reasons that spawned them.  They need to be dealt with, confronted or perhaps seeking out someone such as a therapist may assist you.
You're severely handicapped by that fear.
I gotta say, I've had a fear of the public, interacting with others outside my comfort zone since I was a child though, it wasn't due to a fear of proving to be less capable much less some kind of social anxiety - this was handled by plunging head first into what I was afraid of to get exposure and to understand that failure can only lead to success if you're able to learn from mistakes.  That is generally what anyone really cares about most in a hired employee.
If you can't address that issue, then are you prepared to never find your life's true purpose?

Fatherhood or motherhood might be someone's purpose, and those are not paid. Definitely raising children has rewards, but they aren't necessarily monetary. 
The same could be said about caring for injured or orphaned animals, cleaning up spoiled natural areas, feeding homeless people, writing or creating art, and a variety of other activities that a person might make their life's work while they take jobs that they may or may not love or be particularly great at so that they can afford to undertake these works that give primarily spiritual rewards.

Shortest reply is that the purpose of life is invoking the attributess of Allah within and manifestation of HIS names in this world. 

@GD41586 and @everyone
Understanding the purpose of your life is not an easy task. If you are young, you are still finding your way, but even older people (who thought they knew what their purpose is) can suddenly need to reevaluate their life when something changes.
Instead of acting on impulse, weigh the pros and cons before you take any action. Stay positive. With Allah as your Lord and the Ahlul Bayt AS as your role models, your future is bright. 

There's introverts, and then there's recluses. I'm a recluse. I'm not anti-social, I'm non-social. 
Probably I should see a doctor about it, but that would involve speaking to actual people so, nah.